Sunday, December 9, 2018

Florida DEA Agent Charged w Facilitating Drug Shipments

Special Agent Nathan Koen used his position to assist large-scale drug transactions, warning dealers of pending investigations and otherwise enabling shipments of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to a complaint.

The 21-page document says Koen, 42, accepted $62,000 from one particular drug dealer, and sought an additional $17,000, though it’s not clear if that particular payment was made. Koen worked in Jacksonville for 12 years before being promoted to a Group Supervisor position in Little Rock, AR, in September 2016.

The complaint is largely based on alleged interactions between Koen and dealer turned informant, Francisco Benitez, between late 2016 and October 2017.

Benitez was arrested in Duval County in 2012, where a jail inmate put him in touch with Koen, according to the complaint. Benítez told investigators he would pay Koen for “top cover protection,” which included running the names of Benitez’s drug associates thought DEA databases to determine whether they were “safe” for him to do business with.

The complaint details text exchanges between Koen and Benitez via the “Wickr Me” message app, which auto deletes messages 10 seconds after they are opened. DEA agents photographed the exchange in real-time on Nov. 27 and 28, then followed Benitez to a planned cash handoff in Las Vegas on Dec. 3.

According to the complaint, Koen accepted $9,000 in cash from Benitez in a casino bathroom. Koen was arrested Monday, on his return flight from Vegas to Little Rock.

The timeline of the complaint suggests an investigative pace so rapid, it prevented some work from being completed. For instance, although the DEA informant wore a wire during the alleged Las Vegas cash handoff, agents “were not immediately able to download and listen to the verbatim conversation,” and instead based their account of it on Benitez’s recollection.

A criminal complaint is not an indictment, but is instead a charging document that allows a defendant to be arrested before a grand jury can review the case.

Nathan Koen is currently in federal custody, accused of bribery and drug distribution conspiracy. He has not yet entered a plea in the case.

Chivis, I’m surprised you are surprised by this. DEA agents are Narcos with better resources. The sad truth is Narcos rat on each other in a heartbeat but Cops NEVER rat on each other, no matter what they know.

@3:49 Let me tell you a weird fact about Florida. It’s always expensive to get divorced there. But if you happen to be incarcerated there for any reason then divorce is free while being locked up. Couple of friends have divorced there. Several of them purposely got a misdemeanor with jail time just to get a free divorce out of it. That’s one of those true weird facts out of Florida that has a gun shape for a state. Lol. - Sol Prendido

They do, but unfortunately it's hard to compete with the money that some of them see in front of them on a regular basis. That's why a person's vices are looked at so closely in those positions, when dealing with drug dealers there will come a time when an agent sees a stupid amount of money and has to keep to their moral compass. Sadly not all of them do. We would all like to think that people in those positions, or even ourselves, would never take drug money, but until that kind of cash is waved in your face you never really know. It's not much different than how people react in a combat situation. You can train, and train, and train, but until you are actually being shot at you don't know how you'll react.

In the end, they are only human, and there are few people that could resist that kind of money in one go, especially with the promise of more. State/local cops have it even worse, since they aren't paid as well as federal agents.

To be clear, I am not excusing his actions, merely pointing out that nobody is perfect. He should have the book thrown at him and then some.

Shit, i know id take the $ 100% if i had the chance...but id only do it 1x- like 1 million- and never do it again- idk how these people think theyll get away with the ones going on for years...dude will get popped at some point- and 1 thing is for sure- he WILL snitch the dirty cop/fed out and will most likely get minimum time